Drug-resistant ‘superbug’ threat mounts

By Matthew Heimer

More than 2 million Americans a year are contracting antibiotic-resistant infections, and nursing-home residents and other older people are among the groups who face the highest risk of illness, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC report, its first major study of the issue, estimates that about 23,000 people die each year of infections from so-called superbugs.

Bloomberg News/Landov

It takes a lot to defeat a superbug.

Older people and their families have no shortage of health issues to manage, of course, from chronic illnesses like diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease to acute problems like heart attack and stroke. But the recent spike in the prevalence of drug-resistant bugs in hospitals and nursing homes add a layer of alarming uncertainty to any family’s elder-care planning. Apart from the very real risk of death, CDC director Thomas Frieden writes in today’s report, “survivors have significantly longer hospital stays, delayed recuperation and long term disability,” and all of those factors drive up the personal and financial costs of care.

In a blog post today on the website of Scientific American, Dina Maron cites non-CDC estimates putting the total financial impact of superbug infections at about $20 billion a year in medical costs and $35 billion annually in lost productivity.

The CDC released its report as part of a broader effort to publicize the superbug threat and seek a solution to it. Many scientists believe that the spread of drug-reisstant organisms is a result of the overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals, and today’s report includes a call for more responsible use of those drugs—along with a reitieration of its long-standing plea for better infection-prevention protocols in hospitals.(Doctors, nurses, visitors: Wash your dang hands.)

The CDC is also looking for more funding for a program to better track the spread and impact of superbug infections: It says its current estimates of the number of illnesses and deaths is probably conservative.

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About Encore

Encore looks at the changing nature of retirement, from new rules and guidelines for financial security to the shifting identities, needs and priorities of people saving for and living in retirement. Our lead blogger is editor Matthew Heimer, and frequent contributors include editor Amy Hoak, writer Catey Hill, and MarketWatch columnists Elizabeth O’Brien, Robert Powell and Andrea Coombes. Encore also features regular commentary from The Wall Street Journal retirement columnists Glenn Ruffenach and Anne Tergesen and the Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Alicia H. Munnell.